Appalachians have been characterized as a population with numerous disparities in health and limited access to medical services and infrastructures, leading to inaccurate generalizations that inhibit their healthcare progress. Appalachians face significant challenges in obtaining effective care, and the public lacks information about both their healthcare needs and about the resources communities have developed to meet those needs.

In Appalachian Health and Well-Being, editors Robert L. Ludke and Phillip J. Obermiller bring together leading researchers and practitioners to provide a much-needed compilation of data- and research-driven perspectives, broadening our understanding of strategies to decrease the health inequalities affecting both rural and urban Appalachians. The contributors propose specific recommendations for necessary research, suggest practical solutions for health policy, and present best practices models for effective health intervention. This in-depth analysis offers new insights for students, health practitioners, and policy makers, promoting a greater understanding of the factors affecting Appalachian health and effective responses to those needs.

"This volume pulls together an enormous amount of information that has been scattered in obscure publications in diverse fields. It synthesizes that information, puts it in context, and makes it available to the anyone interested in general health issues. It should be in the library of every postsecondatry education institution with an Appalachian constituency."-Wayne Meyers, M.D.

"An important and much-needed book. Mountaineers, both those inside the region as well as those beyond it, will receive better care from health-care providers and more humane treatment by policymakers if both read carefully the multidisciplinary perspectives contained in this timely volume."-Chad Berry, Goode Professor of Appalachian Studies, Berea College

"A well-written, insightful work that encompasses the breadth of this important topic."-Baretta R. Casey, M.D., M.P.H

"Obermiller and Ludke’s work goes far beyond the borders of Appalachia to document the relationship between health and economic status. It particularly emphasizes the long-term effects of poverty on health. Its usefulness is not limited to Appalachia but to all those who believe that the opportunity for good health should not be defined by income and wealth."-William W. Philliber, author of 'Appalachian Migrants in Urban America'